Unsurprisingly, Pitt ranks near bottom of spring game attendance

In what surely is of little surprise to anyone, Pitt ranks near the bottom of the heap so far when it comes to spring game attendance in college football. Of the 38 spring games SB Nation has tracked thus far, the Panthers came in at No. 30.

We've been over this before, but I wasn't a fan of the way the game was set up this season. Playing in a high school stadium, Pitt wasn't exactly going to come close to the attendances of games from teams in more, shall we say, entertainment-starved areas. But seeing the number in comparison to some other pedestrian programs is a bit disappointing. For programs like Duke, Louisiana Tech, and Texas State to outdraw Pitt (or in the cases of Kentucky and Vanderbilt, wildly outdraw Pitt) is extremely disappointing.

The Panthers really need to make some changes to the game, get it out of a high school stadium on a Friday night, and act like the big time program they're supposed to be. To host a game where you can't even draw 4,000 people in an area known for its high school and professional football is an utter embarrassment. 10,000 - 15,000 is more than an attainable goal if the right resources are poured into the event.

I'm also sick of hearing the reason for low attendances is that there's no interest in the program after two down seasons. Pitt is on track to potentially sell out its season for, I believe, only the second time in the Heinz Field era. Sure, that's due in part to the epic home schedule we've discussed, but that is a great indicator that people are interested in the program.

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